Jailed mother Lesley Dunford sentenced to 13 years in prison for killing second child

She is currently serving a seven-year-sentence for killing her three-year-old daughter Lily in 2004

Lesley Dunford, 37, was already serving a prison sentence for the death of her daughter has confessed to the murder of her son (PA)

A mother already in prison for killing her daughter has been sentenced to a further 13 years after pleading guilty to killing her baby son.

Lesley Dunford, 37, was found guilty of killing seven-month-old Harley Dunford in 2003, after confessing in prison.

She was already serving a seven-year-sentence for killing her three-year-old daughter Lily in 2004.

Dunford, formerly of Windemere Close in Exeter, has been jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 13 years.

She pleaded guilty in March, after changing her plea twice.

In her confession, Dunford wrote: "Something clicked in my head and I went back into the room walked over to his cot and pushed his face into the mattress until he stopped breathing.

"And then I put his head to the side and noticed there was blood and foam coming out of his nose.

"That's when I knew I had hurt him and I don't know why I had done it."

On sentencing her, Mr Justice Baker said: "The reality is, had you not confessed to killing Harley whilst in custody, it is highly likely there would not have been a police investigation into his death and you would not have faced prosecution for murder."

Dunford's husband, Wayne, said: "This has been a very difficult time for myself. Lesley lied to me about what had happened with the children.

"She was very good at this and I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to family and friends for this deceit that lasted for a decade. I am truly sorry."

Senior Crown prosecutor Libby Clark said: "Lesley Dunford has lied for many years about what happened to her son, before finally confessing the truth to prison staff in 2014.

"This was a terrible crime - her confession clearly stated that she deliberately suffocated her son whilst he was face down in his cot.

"Despite being convicted in 2012 of the manslaughter of her eldest daughter, Dunford still kept her silence over Harley's death.

"She showed no remorse for over a decade by maintaining her claims that she had found him in his cot and that he was not breathing, when the truth was that she had murdered him."